Of the Past
by Lils
Summary: Tristan runs into Rory again in the place where he least expects it. At a party celebrating her engagement. AU-ish. One shot. Rory/Logan. Onesided Tristan/Rory.


_A/N: _Okay, this story has been sitting on my hard drive for about two years. And I wrote in the height of my love for Gilmore Girls. But I'm not so into it anymore. Anyway, the point is, I did edit it, but seeing as how it's been a long time some facts might be off (though I tried to check most of them online), so you'll just have to suspend belief momentarily if something (and it would be something small) isn't exactly the way it was written in the show.

_Of the Past_

To think that he was never going to see her again was an absolutely ridiculous thought. They shared similar backgrounds to some degree. The same heritage, more or less. From the same society crowd. She may not have been raised in the same world as he was, but she was still a part of it. And when you're a part of something like that, it's nearly impossible to escape.

Still, he hadn't been expecting it. And most definitely not tonight of all nights.

He had been so surprised to see her. No. Surprised would be an understatement. He was shocked. Stunned. Floored. To see her here of all of all places. And with _him_ of all people. It was unexpected to say the least. It was unbelievable. Astonishing. Perplexing. Mind-boggling. It was a complete shock. Her protests throughout their high school days about how she would never go out with someone like him now seemed to ring loudly in his head. She had been so adamant then. So certain and sure. And now here he was watching her with someone who was essentially a carbon-copy of himself during high school.

It was not how he had pictured their meeting again. He had pictured it. Again and again. He went over in his mind the things he would say. How he would apologize. How he would flirt. How she would flirt back.

How they would finally end up together. Like they should have been all along.

Or not.

This meeting was not turning out to be at all like he imagined. She hadn't noticed him right away like she was supposed to. She hadn't even glanced in his directions. He had been watching her for a good twenty minutes, and not once had she taken her eyes off of _him_.

He wasn't actually jealous though. He had thought he would be, but he wasn't. He could see it in her smile and the way she looked at _him_. She was happy. In a way that she had never been with him. And it made him happy to see her happy.

The one and only time that they had kissed, she had cried. He wouldn't make her cry again. She was happy now. And he wasn't going to do anything to jeopardize her happiness now. This was why he resolved to be rude and leave without congratulating the happy couple. He turned for the door before he felt a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from leaving.

"Hey, Tristan. I thought that was you."

"Yeah, Logan, it's me," he said through gritted teeth although his friend didn't seem to notice.

He and Logan had always gotten along so well. They had been best friends when they were younger. Their parents had been good friends even though they had gone to different schools. Always doing everything together until Tristan went to Chilton and Logan went to boarding school. They were still close afterwards too. They had e-mailed each other often. Tristan had told him about Chilton, about Mary, and then about Princeton. And Logan had written about his boarding school, then Yale, then his Ace.

"You're not leaving, are you? C'mon, man, you have to stay. We have to catch up. C'mon, tell me, what's new in your life."

"Not much. You?"

"Engaged."

"Figured as much with the party and all."

"Yeah, well it took her awhile to give in and everything. She actually said no the first time I asked," Logan told him.

Tristan felt a small smile playing on his lips at Logan's words. She had said no the first time he asked. Tristan wondered if she would have eventually said yes to him too if he had stayed at Chilton. He wondered if it would make any difference as to the way things would have turned out.

"You have to meet her. She's amazing. You'll love her."

"Oh, I'm sure I will," Tristan muttered quietly to himself as he allowed himself to be pulled towards the woman he had been avoiding the whole night. The truth of his words not even registering in the mind of his friend.

"Ace!" Logan called.

Their eyes met finally. Not at all the way he had pictured it. Her fiancé dragging him unwilling towards the woman who had haunted him for years. Logan let go of Tristan and slid his arm around her waist. The jealously that had been evading Tristan earlier suddenly reared its ugly head. Tristan felt a great surge of dislike for his longtime friend. But it left as quickly as it had come when he saw just how happy she was with Logan.

"Ace, this is my good friend -"

"Tristan," she breathed, her voice filled with shock.

She clearly had never expected to see him again. He smiled widely, his instincts from Chilton started to take over. He didn't want to react to her. He knew he shouldn't. Logan was his friend. He was a good friend to him. He didn't want this to get in the way of their friendship. He didn't want it to be awkward and uncomfortable for all three of them. He didn't want Logan to know that he had dreams about kissing and doing more with his friend's fiancé. He didn't want to be put in this position. But he couldn't stop himself the words rolled off his tongue before he could stop himself. The way he was going to greet her. The way he had always imagined it in his head. It always began the same way.

"Hey, Mary, did you miss me?"

"Chilton wasn't the same without you to annoy me to death," she responded quickly.

"I'm sure Paris did a fine job of that without me there," he answered.

Not quite what he had imagined. In all of the many ways, he had imagined this conversation, not one of them included Paris Geller as a topic of conversation.

"She's not so bad anymore. And she's here somewhere so be careful what you say. Her hearing is scarily good. We were actually roommates in college and we're friends now."

"Well, I suppose a congratulations are in order then, aren't they, Mary?"

"Because I'm friends with Paris?" Rory asked.

"Mary, Mary, I thought you were smart."

"I am, and stop calling me Mary, Bible Boy."

"You prefer Ace?"

"Rory would be just fine."

"Well, congratulations on your engagement then, Mary," Tristan said before walking away.

Not at all like how he had thought it would be.

"I'm guessing you two know each other," he heard Logan ask her as he headed away from the happy couple.

"High school."

"Mary, huh?"

Tristan smiled briefly at the name and stopped walking for a second. He almost wanted to turn around… And do what? Tell her that she should break up with his good friend so that they could date? Then he heard her reply.

"Ace now."

He started walking again. His Mary was of the past. She was Ace now.


End file.
